Our Annual Bulb Giveaway is fully over-subscribed and then some

Within 10 days of launching our 2023 Annual Bulb Giveaway, we had exceeded our stock of 150,000 bulbs with them being snapped up by local organisations working with the Council to help our borough look more beautiful than ever next Spring, whilst supporting our bees and other pollinators.

We couldn’t let this huge outpouring of civic enthusiasm go unrewarded, so we have moved quickly and have managed to secure a further 50,000, making a total of 200,000 bulbs available to the 475 residents, volunteers, faith groups and schools, who have jumped at the chance to help in this annual display of volunteering and neighbourhood civic pride.

Despite that extra 50,000 we’ve now had to close the registration a few days early, to ensure we don’t disappoint.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality, said: “Thank you to everyone who signed up for our annual giveaway of Spring bulbs. Despite a massive 50,000 bulbs taking us up to 200,000, the biggest yet, we are now fully subscribed and have had to close the scheme a little early this year thanks to the huge demand.

“It’s a source of great civic pride and a fantastic achievement for the borough to have so many groups willing to plant such a huge number of spring bulbs, building on the hundreds of thousands of bulbs planted over the many years since we started this fantastic scheme. Every bulb planted and which flowers next spring is helping make Waltham Forest a brighter and better place and is helping boost the survival rates of our precious pollinators like bees.”

Last year, more than 175 local groups and schools planted bulbs, making their neighbourhoods more beautiful and biodiverse as those flowers bloomed and this year looks like it could be even bigger.

We want to see how you get on with planting so please use the hashtag #WFBulbGiveAway23 on X (Twitter), Instagram and Facebook to help us spread the word and get as many people as possible involved in planting bulbs which will help get our borough looking even more beautiful next Spring.